The matchup was one of three made official Tuesday for the Dec. 31
card at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Also announced was a
welterweight tilt featuring Pride veterans Hayato “Mach”
Sakurai and Phil Baroni,
as well as a lightweight bout between former Sengoku champ Satoru
Kitaoka and American import Will
Brooks.

Takaya has won back-to-back bouts since being upset by current UFC
talent Robbie
Peralta in an April 2011 Strikeforce contest. The 35-year-old
“Evil Fist” captured his Dream title in a rematch with Fernandes on
New Year’s Eve 2010 and has twice defended the strap -- most
recently on New Year’s Eve 2011, when he earned a unanimous
decision over ex-Shooto titlist “Lion” Takeshi
Inoue.

The final featherweight champion of California’s now-defunct Tachi
Palace Fights, 27-year-old Karakhanyan has been on a tear since a
shaky 2-2 run with Bellator. Karakhanyan has racked up five
straight wins in the past 20 months, including four first-round
finishes. His last bout came in September, when he successfully
retained his TPF belt with a five-round win against Micah
Miller.

Six bouts have now been confirmed for the MMA portion of Dream 18,
which will also feature kickboxing under the Glory banner. Dream
lightweight ace Shinya Aoki
will be in action against wrestler Antonio
McKee, while bantamweight champ Bibiano
Fernandes will take on Yoshiro
Maeda.